I am the immortal

"Nature is Heaven's mandate; following nature is the Way; cultivating the Way is teaching. The Way cannot be separated from us for a moment; if it can be separated, it is no longer the Way."

"Thus, a gentleman is cautious of what he cannot see and fearful of what he cannot hear. Nothing is more hidden than what is hidden, and nothing is more obvious than what is subtle. Therefore, a gentleman is cautious when he is alone."

On the shores of Zhongzhou, surrounded by mountains and rivers, the sound of reading can be faintly heard. A few dozen steps forward, following the sound, a bamboo building nestled among bamboo trees and winding corridors stands. Inside, dozens of young men are reading from the ancient classics, nodding their heads with intense concentration.

A man in his forties, dressed in Confucian robes, sits above, listening to the children's tender voices. After reciting several times, he breaks down the meaning and carefully explains it to the children.

At noon, the sound of a zither echoes from the backyard of the bamboo garden. The gentleman pauses, smiling as he concludes his lecture for the day, leaving behind some homework. The children scattered. Some had already begun playing, others were discussing holiday plans. Many were dressed in silk and came from well-off families. The gentleman, his hair tied up with a wooden hairpin, turned to one side of the bamboo forest and, as expected, saw a green bamboo, about the thickness of his wrist, swaying slightly. A smile crossed his face, and he stood up and left. There was no one by the window, but a plump rabbit hung six feet from the bamboo. The gentleman reached out and twirled it. The rabbit was plump and heavy. With winter approaching, rabbits are often plump to survive the cold. Cooking it in oil and accompanied by winter bamboo shoots is delicious. The music faded, and footsteps approached. His wife's voice reached from behind:

"Is that the child again?"

"His name is... Qi Wuhuo?"

The gentleman in the green shirt hummed and raised his head. He could still vaguely see a young man walking towards the small town below, heading from the small bamboo house on the mountainside. He was wearing ordinary shorts and light brown clothes. His back looked ordinary, but his body stood straight and erect. A faint snowstorm began to rise. The young man walked further and further away amidst the north wind and snowy mountain scenery.

The woman, originally a daughter of a wealthy family, whose experiences had shaped her into a somewhat harsh and aggressive character, pursed her lips slightly, and said with a rare show of weakness, "Why bother? You, my husband, have allowed him to sit in on the trial, but he refuses to accept your kindness. He lives a simple life, yet he still brings these things."

She paused, then a hint of regret returned: "Is he still holding a grudge against me for not treating him well back then?"

The man in green chuckled and soothed, "He's not like that."

"I did ask him why he didn't want to come in. I originally thought it was just a child being embarrassed. I pride myself on my knowledge and experience, having served as a county magistrate and handled hundreds of cases. I should be able to convince a child, but in the end, I failed. Instead, he intimidated me."

She paused. His wife glanced at him suspiciously. "What did the child say?"

The man in green stroked his beard and said, "He said that in all things, the problem isn't the lack of wealth, but the inequality of it. We should strive for fairness."

"Since I accepted tuition fees from many children's families to allow them into my school, and some of them came from less affluent families who gritted their teeth to allow them to attend, if I allowed them into my school out of pity, those families would probably have some complaints."

"But it would also damage my reputation."

"He said he was learning from me, but he's using me at his expense to benefit others. That's unacceptable."

"And these things are his tuition."

His wife was surprised. "The problem isn't the lack of wealth, but the inequality of it... How could a small-town kid say such words?"

The man in green said, "That's true, but he's also quite stubborn. Strong."

"I asked the townspeople, and they're not from here."

"He was a refugee who came here ten years ago after the Jinzhou disaster. Life is tough, and many people do anything to survive. It's rare to find someone so upright and studious."

He hesitated, then took his wife's hand and said gently, "Madam, I plan to have a competition among the students next year. If he's truly talented, I'll take him on as my disciple and recommend him for the imperial examination. We don't have to let such a talent wander in the mountains. What do you think?"

The woman rolled her eyes at her husband and said, "Recommending talented people is the duty of a scholar like you. If he truly is talented, it would be a dereliction of duty for you not to recommend him. I'm also willing to contact my relatives to find him a suitable match."

The scholar in blue was overjoyed and embraced his wife, but they didn't talk about it for now. The young man emerged from the academy, silently reciting what he had learned today and reviewing the meaning of the characters. Before he knew it, he had wandered into the mountains. The snowstorm was gentle, like snow from other mountains, carried by the wind and slowly dying down here.

When he was young, his hometown suffered a devastating disaster. The harvest was wiped out, and plague and demons were rampant. His parents gave him their last rations, barely surviving. He fled here among the refugees, and fortunately, thanks to this place's shelter, he found a place to stay.

Without the care of his parents and elders, he would have become a ragtag, destitute man. However, ever since his youth, he had dreamed of strange things every day. In his dreams, iron birds soared into the sky, people came and went, tall buildings clustered in the city, and there were countless Chinese characters.

He forgot many things in his dreams, but he also remembered many things.

Especially those Chinese characters.

Learning should never cease.

A scholar must be broad-minded and resolute, for the road ahead is long and arduous.

It was as if a voice were reciting these words. He felt that these words in his dream were extremely important to him, so he believed them without a doubt.

It was cold today, and he feared a heavy snowfall would block the mountain. He would need to gather more firewood to survive the cold winter. Qi Wuhuo, carrying his backpack, climbed the mountain, occasionally picking up fallen pine cones. Luckily, he had already filled his backpack an hour and a half earlier than usual, hoping to survive the heavy snowfall and finally recover.

But at some point, a night fog suddenly rose in the mountains.

Qi Wuhuo's mortal body couldn't sense it, but his spirit was different from that of ordinary people, and he was somewhat aware of it. He frowned slightly, holding a long, neat branch, and slowly walked down the mountain. An ordinary mortal would have descended unnoticed, but his spirit was many times more powerful, and he accidentally stumbled into a different place.

Looking back, he could no longer see the way forward. After walking only a hundred steps, he suddenly heard a desolate voice, clapping to a rhythmic tune. The voice was ancient and clear, like the clanging of metal, yet possessed the quality of jade, not harsh.

Zhongzhou is full of wonders. In winter, insects shimmer like candlelight.

It whirled up and down, approaching.

Qi Wuhuo paused slightly, unknowingly entering a deep valley. He was unaware that insects and birds were following him, that a tiger lowered its gaze in the night fog, and that all beasts and spirits were present. He could only hear the verses chanting more and more clearly, their hands beating the beat as they sang loudly.

"Untouched by the dust of this world, the hall is filled with immortals."

"Their clothes are always tinged with smoke and haze, their staffs and shoes embracing their bodies like clouds and water."

"The iron flute blows the moon across the sea, and my sleeves embrace the spring of the cave heaven."

"Now guests from all directions have gathered, and who is the Dongbin?"

"Huh?"

"Guests are coming!"

"Young guest, please come forward and have a chat."